their benefactors and see if they might be able to secure you a pass home.”
For some reason, her kindness tightens my throat until I realize I’m one more hand squeeze away from crying.
Before I can embarrass myself, she marches across the floor, hands on her hips.
“On to the important stuff.” She drags a Louis Vuitton suitcase across the hardwood floor and flops it open. “We need to educate you on everything Evermore over the weekend.”
I’d nearly forgotten it was Friday. Usually I spent the weekends hunting, watching the kids, or occasionally working at the feed store with Vi. “Educate me?”
“Yep. Our sole purpose, aside from learning to protect the Evermore, is to shadow the students and make sure all their wants are taken care of. And since you somehow landed the two most sought after Evermore in school, your life here depends on being helpful. Next Friday is the first academic test.”
Test? I release a long, ragged sigh. Friday is supposed to be a happy day. “You said the first. Does that mean there are more?”
“Yep. The first one is basically like an entrance exam to make sure we know the fundamental stuff. But we attend classes like regular school in the morning, and then shadow our keepers in the afternoon classes. And we’re tested just like regular school.”
Splendid.
As if Mack can sense my panic, she adds, “Not to put the fear of Oberon in you, but you need to take this first test seriously. The rest are for a grade, but this one is pass or fail. Meaning you’re one slip-up away from being sent to the scourge. And kids that go there . . . they never return.”
“I did okay in high school,” I point out, purposefully omitting that one ridiculous algebra test . . .
“Know what the darkening ceremony is? How about the difference between a fiddler mushroom and a fennick mushroom? Because they sound similar, but one will enhance a potion, and the other releases spores that poison everyone within thirty feet.”
I shake my head. Way out of my element here.
She pats the floor next to where she sits, a MacBook with pink and teal leopard skin open on her lap. “Then come. Time to cram a year’s worth of studies into your brain. All of the other students attended a ‘Summer camp’ every year run by the Evermore where we learned most of the basic stuff. But I brought along some materials as a refresher. We can use those until your books show up.”
I grin; I can already tell Mack is a great student. I’d bet anything she was top of her class in high school.
My heart clenches as I remember how much I used to love school. I wasn’t a next-level-overachiever like Mack, but I liked learning about worlds outside our small little town.
“I can help you study this weekend and then in the off hours this week,” she continues, all business. “We shadow our keepers from after lunch to sundown, then an hour of fight training. After that, the rest of the time is ours.”
“How generous,” I mutter. “Wait, back up. Fight training?”
“Yeah. That’s what we do as shadows. Protect our charge.”
“But, they’re Fae, basically gods. Why do they need us to protect them?”
“Obviously you’ve never seen darklings around Fae,” she says. “Something about the Fae’s magic makes the darklings go into a feeding frenzy.”
“Yeah, but the Fae have magic, and they’re infinitely stronger than us.”
“True, but darklings are incredibly hard to kill, and only one thing can finish them off. Know what that is?”
I shrug.
“Here’s a hint: it kills Fae too.”
“Iron?” I offer.
“Exactly. A Fae can’t get within ten feet of the stuff. But guess who can?”
“Us.”
She nods. “And infused with oils from rowan berries and the ash tree? Absolutely lethal. So . . .” She stretches her arms as a proud smile splits her lips. “In short, they may be gods, but they need us.”
“Could have fooled me.” Resigned to enduring a weekend of studying, I sit cross-legged beside her on the floor and eye the clothes inside her suitcase. “Wait, I thought we couldn’t bring anything but the clothes on our backs?”
She snorts. “We were allowed to send our bags months ago to be inspected and approved. You didn’t . . .” The truth dawns in her eyes, and she bites her lip. “Of course you didn’t have time. So that means you have . . . nothing?”
I sweep a hand over my outfit. “Just my lucky hoody, my ass-kicking